


Red and Black

by RasTheWaToGo



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Unresolved Sexual Tension, cursing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-11-05
Packaged: 2018-04-24 16:13:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4926355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RasTheWaToGo/pseuds/RasTheWaToGo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sansa is having the worst day, and getting trapped on a elevator with a stranger on board at the end of the day isn't making it any better.  On top of that she just can't seem to stop being awkward and clumsy in front of this man.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy:)

Wait! Can you please, please hold the door!

Sansa huffs in overwhelmed frustration over her incredibly crappy day as she ungracefully careens toward the waiting elevator. Just as she’s nearing the door, her cell phone begins chiming in her suit jacket pocket.

So, with an annoyed Humph and little to no finesse at all she hikes her heavy annoying bags over to her right shoulder and grasps it out of her pocket.

The bleating ring tone is just as annoying as a blaring alarm clock in the morning , or it was probably more to the fact that the darn stupid thing had not stopped ringing all darn day. She glances up just long enough to glimpse a very, very large masculine hand holding the elevator door open as she finally wrestles her darn stupid phone from her pocket.

It fumbles in her hand as she juggles all her crap and tries to answer it, and of course it falls, crashing and skidding along the dull marble floor. “ Crap!” , she yelped out , already fantasizing about the bottle of wine she is going to demolish once she got home to bring a quick and mellow end to this otherwise horrible day.

Well , on the bright side, at least the phone is skittering toward the still-waiting elevator _.God bless the patience of this good Samaritan_ , she thinks as she bends down to scoop up her phone while stumbling into the elevator.Due to her being bent over while fumbling into the space, her hair is all about her face, obscuring her ability to really see anything around her. _God’s I must look like cousin It_ , she thinks as she mumbles a Thank you to this kind , patient, person.

As she’s huffing a tuft of hair out of her mouth, her laptop bag strap slides off her shoulder, bringing both her purse and portfolio case with it, and they both crash to the floor with a loud _thud!_ _That is it! I am so...err_ , she thinks as she petulantly stomps her foot on the ground and growls out loud. That’s when a deep, rugged voice chuckles out from behind her, “ shit day?”

She can’t help the deep red blush that blooms on her face in embarrassment from completely forgetting there is a person in here to witness her epic display of patheticness as she miserably mumbles out, “ you have no idea.”

“ What floor?”

“ Oh. Um...t-the lobby please”, she quietly stutters as she quickly bends over and picks up her laptop bag, portfolio case, and then purse, heaving them back onto her shoulder. With her bags now securely in place she looks at her phone to see who’s call she missed. The L.E.D. screen is completely black.

_What the..._ , she thinks as she flips it around to inspect the back, and that’s when she sees the big rectangle hole where the battery should be. _Great! That’s just great_ , she grumbles in her mind as she angrily jabs at the elevator button to take her back up to the 6th floor.

As much as she does not want to go back up there to retrieve her battery she absolutely has to. There is no way she can be without her phone. _Especially not when my staff is calling me every five minutes_ , she thinks bitterly as she bites down on her lower lip. That it was a Friday night and the start of the weekend made no difference at all, especially not when they were finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for this massive project that they’ve been working on that made it basically impossible to have any kind of life at all.

Having finally brushed her hair from her eyes, she glimpses a sideways peek at the other person in the elevator with her and, _Oh boy is he big_. She’s basically just eye level with his massive, broad, chest, and that’s as much of an inspection that she was going to get. Because, just as her eyes were drifting upwards to his face the elevator violently screeches to a halt and goes pitch black.

 

 

 

 

He tried his best not to laugh at this frazzled redhead careening toward the elevator pleading for him to hold the door while she fumbled with all her shit hanging off of her.Why do women carry so many bloody bags anyway? I mean fuck, if it doesn’t fit in his jeans pocket , then it’s staying at home.

He continues to mirthfully watch as she wrestles her phone out of her pocket- that’s another fucking thing he refuses to carry on his person unless he’s on the job- drops it and then bends over to pick it up while practically cartwheeling in through the bloody doors.

He didn’t really get a good look at her face, considering that her thick, wavy, mane was flying all about, efficiently obscuring her from his view. From what he could see though, he could tell she would more than likely be a beautiful woman. She is all long legs and a nice firm ass that’s easy on the eyes, and god’s her hair is fucking gorgeous. He’s always had a thing for redheads, but damn he’s never seen a color quit like hers, _it’s fucking stunning!_

After her mumbled request for the lobby, he quickly pushed the button and then moved to the back of the elevator, leaned against the wall , lowered his head, and then pulled the hood of his hoodie up over it in an effort to conceal as much of his gruesome visage as he could. He didn’t really fucking care what people thought of his ugly face, but that didn’t mean he went out of his way to display his scars either. His day was in the pisser already, so he wasn’t in the mood to see this funny , fluttering, little bird look at him with discuss or fear. No. He’d really rather fucking forgo that.

He almost laughed again when she started to jab at one of the buttons on the elevator level panel. It looked like she was pecking out all her frustration on the damn thing. Her feathers all ruffled as she huffed and puffed with impatience, _she’s fucking adorable_.

With the swing of her locks over her shoulder, he got a good whiff of her sent, _bloody hell did she smell fucking amazing!_ Between the look of her hair and the smell of it, he quickly shoves his hands into his pockets to stop himself from reaching out and touching it. But, Christ how he wanted to, just once.

And then the ruffled, beautiful, little redhead was gone, just like everything else, as the elevator jarred to a halt and the lights shut off.


	2. Chapter 2

Sandor Immediately gasped, and then stumbled back into the corner of the elevator clenching his eyes shut. _Not this. Not fucking this. Fucking breath. Big.deep. Breaths._ , he thinks as he brings his hands up to his head and started counting backwards from a 100 just like elder brother had told him to do in an effort to prevent him from freaking the fuck out.  And Sandor knows with his size and strength, he’s the last person you would want to be stuck with in a small ass fucking space while he’s loosing his fucking shit.

The confined space of an elevator is one thing- years of therapy with the elder brother had gotten him past that. Mostly. But really confined spaces with no bloody light? If by the pounding of his heart and the clenching vise grip in his chest told him anything, it’s absolutely NO FUCKING WAY!

He made it to 75 when he realized Red is making noise. And with that slight distraction he manages to push through the panic enough to hear that she is laughing. Not just laughing, but hysterically laughing.

_What the fuck_ , he thinks as he finally opens his eyes, even though it was useless. Nothing. Total complete pitch blackness, _Fuck am I the only one that I have to be bloody fucking worrying about?_ Tuning his mind and ears to only her, he can tell that her laughter is genuine comical laughter, and not panic induced hysteric laughter, _Thank bloody god._ Out of that, he can also make out that she’s probably still standing by the panel of buttons. But the even more amazing thing is that the more he forces himself to focus on her the faster his panic seems to recede.

God he wishes he could see her. He can almost imagine her shoulders shaking and her eyes tearing up as she’s clutching her stomach from the force of her breath-stealing laughter.

At the loud unladylike like snort , he couldn’t help the stupid grin that pulled at his lips, _This girl is a trip._

That less-than-graceful noise has set her off to another round of uncontrollable laughter, but he didn’t mind because now he is standing upright and his breathing has almost normalized. He’d temporarily forgotten about his panic thanks to her.

 

 

Sansa would’ve shouted and cried while pulling her hair out, but she couldn’t because she started to uncontrollably laugh so hard she could hardly breath.

Nobody would believe what a big, huge, steaming pile of crap her day had been and now this happens. It started Wednesday in the late afternoon when she was finally able to go get some food that she discovered that her car which was working just fine in the morning decided it would no longer go into gear. So instead of getting to eat, she had to deal with finding a mechanic and then a tow-truck to tow her car to the shop. After which, the mechanic told her that her transmission needed to be rebuilt, therefor leaving her without a vehicle for the next week and a half. Which also means that she would have to be waking up an hour and a half earlier in the morning so she can make it to the metro and work on time. And today’s epic crappiness started when she broke the heel on her favorite, most comfortable pair of pumps on a grate as she walked to the metro. So she had to turn right back around and go back to her apartment to change into a new pair of shoes, simultaneously making her miss the train and therefor making her late for work. Worse yet the only other pair of shoes that she had that would match her suit were brand new, so by the time she did make it to her work she was now sporting great big painful blisters on both her pinky toes. It all seemed to continue to go down hill from there. _And now I have to deal with this!_ , she thinks bitterly.

_Right now I wouldn’t be surprised if all the sudden the building decided to catch on fire_ , and with that thought she snorts out loud. The ridiculousness of the sound that she just made and the situation that she’s in and the whole stupid blasted day has her laughing all over again. She’s laughing so hard that her right side is starting to cramp up and her cheeks are burning from how wide she is smiling.

After she composed herself slightly, she finally drops her bags to the floor and reaches her hand out to the cold metal door. Leaning her head against it, she begins to fan herself, and that’s when she hears a slight shuffle sound and remembers that she is not alone in here. _Oh God! This poor man. He probably thinks I’m a crazy person. I’m probably terrifying him_ , She thinks as she embarrassingly giggles out, “ I”m sorry. I’m not a lunatic. I swear..I’m just....It’s just...Its just been a really crap day for me.”

She wasn’t sure if he understood her or was mortified by her because he made no response to her.

Feeling a little self conscious now- well more than a little- about her little breakdown she sheepishly asks, “ Uh-, hello-, are you still there?”

“ Uh-, yeah-, I’m here. Are you...are you okay over there?” His deep, rough, gravely voice reverberated in this small space, surrounding her.

“ Yes. I mean no!” She quickly huffs out a big breath of defeat before she continues with, “ I have no idea”, as she brushes her hair from her face and shakes her head at herself. The low, deep rumble of his chuckle has her feeling a little less ridiculous.

“ That fucked up, huh?”

She couldn’t help but blush at his verbal crassness, but she makes no remark on it, considering he hadn’t said anything about her historic display.

“ The worst-” , she replied before she sighed heavily and asks, “ How long do you think we’ll be stuck in here?”

“Who knows. Hopefully not too bloody long.”

Sansa immediately noticed that his voice had a tense edge to it that she didn’t quite notice before. “ Hopefully, indeed. Aren’t these things suppose to have emergency lights though”, she asked as she runs her hand down the bank of buttons as she pushed at whatever buttons she could feel in an effort to find the alarm button, but none of them seemed to do anything at all. And she already knew from working in this building for over two years now, that the receiver on the emergency phones are missing. _The joys of working in an old building I suppose._

“ The newer elevators do.”

Sansa finally gave up on searching the button panel. Turning toward the doors, she begins pounding her fist on them as she shouts, “ Hey! Is anyone out there?! Can anyone hear me?! We’re stuck in the elevator! Hello!” She quickly presses her ear to the cold metal doors and intently listens for a response. Nothing. She tried this approach a couple more times, and with no responses heard she sighs in defeat and gives up.

Trying to get a sense of her surroundings, she looked about but, couldn’t see a thing. To test the darkness, she holds her hand up, but couldn’t see it, not even when her palm was touching the tip of her nose. “ Wow! This is the very definition of pitch black. I can’t even see my hand in front of my face.”

With the loud, uncomfortable groan from her unlucky companion she quickly drops her hand from her face and worriedly asks, “ What?What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing”, he barks out in a very tight agitated tone.

_ookayy. That certainly did not sound like a nothing_ , she thinks as she gapes in the direction that his voice just came from as she tries to think of something to say.

She hears him huff loudly and then shuffle a bit before something hard knocks into her ankle, causing her to yelp out loud. It was more of a yelp of surprise than pain, but her elevator partner quickly grumbles out, “ Shit. Fuck. Sorry-. Are you okay?”

She was a little taken aback at the genuine concern in his tone, like he thinks he actually really hurt her, “ Ya. No, I’m fine. I was startled is all. What was that anyway?” “ My boot.”

“ Why did you throw your boot at me”, she said, sounding a bit hurt and very accusatory, but then immediately wanted to punch herself in the face. _Gods, why did I just accuse this man of throwing his boot at me_ , well she knew why, because last she could see, he was at the back of the elevator and didn’t remember him moving at all. And she’s still standing at the front so there’s a bit of a distance between them, _But still that was really rude of me to accuse him of something like that._

“ I didn’t throw my bloody boot at you! I just sat the fuck down.”

For some reason she didn’t quite believe him, and apparently eager to outdo herself in over the top idiocy in front of this man, she decides to bend over and feel around her feet. When her fingers skimmed across the tip of a boot, she grabs onto the toe of it and pulls at it while wiggling it a bit. Instant mortification when she realizes it most defiantly is connected to a leg, and he quickly grouses out,“ The fuck you doing.”

Letting go of his boot like she had just been burnt by it, she yelps, “ I’m sorry!”

With an irritated grumbling growl, he states , “ I just told you, I sat the fuck down. So why the hell are grabbing at my foot?”

“ God. How long are you--?”, she blurts out, ignoring his question, genuinely mesmerize at the fact that he can be sitting with his back against the back wall and his legs span all the way across the elevator floor.

His response is first a moment of complete silence before he erupts into a loud raucous, laugh that leaves her feeling a little confused as to what is so funny about the question she just asked. After a moment of his loud guffawing he sputters,“ Long enough girl. Long enough to get the job done.”

She scrunched her face in puzzlement over both his reaction and then the response. Not really knowing how to respond to his remark she huffs in a resigned sigh as she mummer, “ Well, I suppose I should get comfortable as well, considering it doesn’t seem like we’ll be getting out of here anytime soon.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this will be my last update for about a week in a half because I will be out of town...anyways, hope you guys enjoy. :)

Turning to the back of the elevator, she reaches out to her side to feel for the wall so as to help guide her to the back wall. As she’s going to take her first step, her heel caught in the strap of one of her bags, and that causes her to trip and stumble into the wall while it simultaneously rips the shoe from her foot. With her stance now uneven due to the one heeled foot and the other un-heeled, she wobbles a bit before getting her bearings and righting herself.

“ For the love of god!”, she grosses out loud as she flings her still shoed foot in the air to kick off the uncomfortable annoying pump.

She hears it bang off the back wall with a satisfying CLANK! before she hears her elevator partner bark out, sounding very perplexed, and a little startled, “what the hell?!”

_Dang-it! Can you please stop screwing up in front of this man. God, what is wrong with you_ , she internally chastises herself , “ I’m so sorry! I really did not mean for that to hit you.”

“And who’s throwing shoes at who now”, he says with such an air of smug cockiness that she could not stop her irritated eye roll. “ I didn’t throw it at you. I kicked-”, and that’s when she stops and face palms herself because that certainly does not sound any better.

“ Oh. My bad. So you kicked it at me instead.” , amusement clear in his tone.

“ It was an accident.”, she can’t help the pathetic whine in her tone, and that makes her want to just stomp her foot again. But she bites back on that childish outburst, choosing instead to ignore his needling and continue to the back wall. She hears him chuckle under his breath before muttering, “ Your just a pillar of grace. Aren’t you?”

Ignoring his comment on her glorious display of mishaps she finds the back corner and settle herself to the ground. She stretches her legs out, crossing her feet at the ankles,and then smooths her skirt over her thighs. This ridiculous display of propriety quickly has her rolling her eyes at herself and mentally grumbling to herself, _It’s not like he can see you. You can pull your hem up around your waist if you wanted to and he wouldn’t even know_. Not that she would. But still the point is she’s being ridiculous and she knows it.

_Gods, this darkness is so disorienting_ , she thinks as she sits there in the quiet, twiddling her thumbs. There’s not even a sliver of ambient light anywhere. Her first instinct is to grab her phone and use the L.E.D. light to shed some light on their little predicament. _But that’s not gonna happen considering the batteries up on the 6th floor_ , she bitterly reminds herself. And this day being what it is, she knows that she ran her laptop battery dead earlier and didn’t have time to plug it in and recharge it.

With that thought, she takes a deep breath and huffs it out in utter deflation.

Being closer to her elevator partner, she picks up the scent of his aftershave, and she decides she likes it. It wasn’t to strong. It’s subtle, but it has a nice, crisp, clean smell to it. Masculine too. She almost screeches out loud in horror as an image of her running her nose up his neck and taking a big whiff barrages her brain. _What the heck was that all about,_ she thinks as she shakes her head in disbelief at herself, _I mean, crap, I don’t even know what he looks like!_

So, in an effort to stop her brain from coming up with anymore disturbing thoughts about her elevator partner, she decides to twiddle her thumbs in one direction and count to a hundred rotations and then reverse the rotation and count again. She was pretty pleased with her little game she came up with, until she reached 1,000.

_Mother have mercy, this silence unbearable_ , she thinks as she huffs in frustration, _and why is he being so quiet? Maybe he fell asleep? Or maybe he’s just really shy. Or it could be he’s thinking your completely crazy considering all your bumbling and fumbling. Oh! And kicking shoes at him. Yeah, that was real smooth. That’s one heck of an intro Sansa!_

 

He doesn’t really know how he managed to keep his bloody composure for this long. Especially with Red reminding him every five fucking minutes that they were stuck in a stifling, suffocating, dark goddamn box. He knows he’s not known for his mountain of patience, and he’s damn well surprised that he’s been able to keep his temper and panic in check at the same time. He knows its a bloody monumental feet for him, and to be honest, he’s a little proud of himself.

But fuck- does he hate feeling like this. It makes him feel like a big fucking pussy. I mean he’s a big, strong, grown ass man for gods sake! Yet every time he finds himself confined, he’s thrust back to that terrified little boy that he was and there isn’t a damn thing he can do about it. It’s terrifying and infuriating to not have control of your mind and body.

He supposes that all her pounding about and hollering has served as a slight distraction, _at least she has a pretty voice_ , but it still wasn’t enough to distract him from the ever growing tightness in his chest.

Not wanting to pass out and embarrass the shit out of himself and probably scare the daylights out of Red, he decides its best if he sits down. But as he’s stretching his legs out he accidentally kicks her in the ankle causing her to yelp out loud.

_Goddammit!You big clumsy brute_ , he thinks as he cringes at himself and apologetically pleads, “ Shit. Fuck. Sorry-. Are you okay?”

“ Ya. No I’m fine. I was startled is all. What was that anyway?”, she sweetly asks in that pretty little sing song voice of hers.

_So much for not embarrassing yourself_ , he thinks as he kneads at the tension in his neck and grumbles, “ My boot.”

“ Why did you throw your boot at me?”

For some reason her hurt accusation spurred his anger, provoking him bark back a little harsher than he probably should of, “ I didn’t throw my bloody boot at you! I just sat the fuck down.”

When she didn’t respond, he began to worry that maybe he was a little to harsh in his tone, and she’d not talk to him for the rest of the time that they were stuck in here. _Fuck. Please don’t make me sit in here, in absolute silence_ , He thinks as he rubs his hand over his face in an effort to try a regain his composure, _There’s no fucking way I’ll be able to handle it._

She actually startles him when he feels her grab his boot and pull at it, “ The fuck you doing.” At her yelped sorry he thinks, W _hat the hell? Did she think I was lying to her. Why the fuck would I lie about something like that._

Feeling pissed and a little hurt at that, he irritably growls back at her, “ I just told you, I sat the fuck down. So why the hell are grabbing at my foot?” His anger completely melted away when he contemplated her blurted out question, and then couldn’t stop the loud, boisterous laughter that erupted out of him.

_Does she even realize the implication of the question she just asked me? More than likely not. Oh well, too bad, I’m still gonna fuck with her over it_ , he thinks as he responds to her over his chuckling, “ Long enough girl. Long enough to get the job done.”

At her silence again, he's worried that yet again, maybe he had gone a to far and now she’s thinking that she’s stuck in here with a creeper.

This is why he is the loner that he is. He’s a rude prick that blurts out whatever is on his mind, not giving two shits if it makes the person on the receiving end uncomfortable or not. But then he heard her sigh and murmurer something about getting more comfortable. He wasn’t really listening to her because he was to re-leaved to that fact that he didn’t fuck up as bad as he just thought he did.

Being as he wasn’t paying attention to her, lost in his own thoughts, he physically jumps when hears a thud against the wall, and then she’s yelling, and before he has the chance to ask if she okay, there’s a shoe hitting him in the side of the head,“what the hell?!” _Did she she just throw her shoe at me?_

“ I’m so sorry! I really did not mean for that to hit you”, she enticed with a gentle pleading tone.

_So she did throw it. And to think she was accusing me of doing the exact same thing not more than a couple of bloody minutes ago,_ he thinks feeling a little vindicated, he reply’s cockily, “ And who’s throwing shoes at who now?”

You can clearly hear the irritated embarrassment in her tone when she counters that she didn’t throw it, she just kicked it at him, which is apparently so much better. At her whining plea that it really was an accident, he thinks about all the fumbling and flopping around that she’s done since he fist set eyes on her. Chuckling to himself , he mutters out what he’s already seen, “ Your just a pillar of grace. Aren’t you?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm back.....had a great time and I'm fully refreshed. Thank you for all your fun and encouraging comments on this little story.....hope you all continue to enjoy.

After his last comment, they’ve been sitting hear in complete stifling silence, for what feels like an eternity, with nothing more than slight shuffling sounds coming from her direction every couple of minutes. God he wished Red would say something, anything. Hell she can sit there and yell at him for all he cares, just make some bloody fucking distraction other than fidgeting sounds to help get his mind off this crushing darkness.

He can feel himself starting to lose it, his breathing is becoming labored and restricted, and the whirling rushing sound of his blood pumping between his ears are tell tale signs that he needs to do something or he’s gonna be losing his shit real soon.

So when her timid, little, _so..._ , graced his ears, he let out an audible sigh of relief, “ What’s up Red?”

“Red--?”, her pitch inclined as she repeated her nickname he gave her.

He just shrugged his massive shoulders dismissively even though she couldn’t see it as he explains, “ Well, I don’t know your name, and your hair is red so...Red.” He knows it’s not very creative, but her hair was the first thing that caught his eye, and he liked it...liked it a lot.

Her voice sounded shy as she asked if he wanted to know her name, to which he replied promptly and maybe a little too over eagerly, “ Yes!” But hey, it made her giggle....and as long as she’s giggling and talking to him, he’ll gladly sound like a fool.

“ Sansa. My names Sansa.”

“ Nice to meet you Sansa, I’m Sandor.”

“ It’s nice to meet you too Sandor.”, she polity responds back with a lighthearted laugh that has him grinning like a fool yet again.

Feeling mischievous all of the sudden he decides he wants to joke around a little, try to lighten up his mood and keep him distracted for as long as possible. Which is so unusual for him. He’s never been one for small talk- actually he can’t stand it- and he’s not typically regarded as a lighthearted kind of guy. He’s always been self sufficient, never asking or needing anything from anyone. So it’s very strange to him that he is using her to soothe himself. That she has such a calming effect on him is on the precipice of being unnerving .

“ So--what does a Red do for a living?”

Her response is immediate and with a teasing inflection, “ So are we gonna play twenty questions now? Is that it?”

She has him grinning from ear to ear at her teasing, he likes a woman who can give as good as she gets. And for an instant this darkness almost feels freeing- she wouldn’t be able to judge his appearance, and he would be able to enjoy her openness, while maybe getting to know her.

“ I’ve never been one for stupid games, but why the hell not. I mean what the hell else is there to do?”

 

 

 

Laughing softly at how he phrased his statement- all tough guy like. Like he’s pandering to her to play some girly game. She can’t help the sly comical note that her voice takes on when she asks “Well, were you actually asking what I do for a living, or were you trying to guess what I do?”

Finally, having a name to put to his sultry voice has put her so at ease. It’s like the deep timbre of his voice is an unexpected balm to her frayed nerves. And it felt so weird. Not weird in a bad way, just weird in the fact that no man’s voice has ever done that to her before. Stimulated a deep calm within her, _I wish I could see him?_

“Why not. Let’s have some fun and see if I can guess right, and then you guess what I do.”

Eager to hear what he thinks she does for work, especially since he doesn’t know anything about her, she’s anxious to see what he comes up with, “ Ookayy-I’ll tell you if your hot or cold.”

“Right. Okay, well lets see, you’re wearing a business suit, and not just some cheap run of the mill one, but a fancy designer one.” She nods her head in agreement even though he can’t see it, shocked speechless that he would even know the difference. So she just continued listening in silence, amazed.

“ Your shoes looked designer as well, brand new as a matter of fact, and you have a laptop, a smart phone, and judging by the case that holds your laptop, its not a cheap computer either.”At this point her jaw is flapped open, stunned at all the little details he observed. _I mean....flip.....all I can remember of him is that he’s a big guy...really big, and he’s wearing a worn black sweatshirt. Oh! and he’s wearing boots...because I actually grabbed those_. “ You also have a huge handbag, which I’m gonna venture a guess that you usually have food and drink stuffed in there along with all the other shit you might need on a whim. So that tells me that you more than likely don’t have regular eating hours so you need to make sure you at least have snacks on hand to get you by-”

“ Wait!”, she has to stop him, this is too much....her mind is literally blown, “ Are you a spy or something?!”

That outburst earns her a loud, jolly laugh from him before he chuckles out, “ I haven’t guessed what you do yet, and I’m not answering your question until you guess what I do.”

She can’t help but pout as she sputters out, “ But that’s not fair....and I didn’t even get to see you. So your cheating!”

“ I can’t help that I’m aware of my surroundings and your not. And that’s not bloody cheating anyways, it’s called being observant...beside I’m giving you a big clue as to my field of work.” with a quick clearing of his throat, he pointedly asks, “ Now are you going to let me finish, or are you going to keep interrupting my train of thought, cheater.”

“ I’m not a cheater!”, she gasps out before she glares in his direction and grumpily crosses her arms and grumbles, “ Fine. Finish your long winded guess.”

That has him chuckling again before he starts back up with his verbal musing, “ Where was I....right, I’m guessing your job is the kind of job that pulls you in one direction to another, pretty much all day. Am I right about that?”

She can’t help but giggle at the tone he used to affirm what he just said, “ Yes. Most days, your right.”

He gives a smug little _Humph_ and then continues, “ And giving that it was past business hours when you got on this elevator, I’m also going to guess that you work late nights a lot.”

Shaking her head at him as a smile pulls at her lips, she answers with a simple _yes_.

All smug confidence, he rumbles out, “ Damn I’m good at what I do.”

That has her giggling yet again, “ Alright big guy...lets not get too cocky over there, because you still haven’t actually guessed what I do.”

 

 

Her calling him big guy like that made him choke on his retort, and all lines of any kind of coherent thought left his mind. Fuck, he’s shocked at how badly he wants her to keep calling him that. What is this woman doing to me. He fucking hates cheesy nicknames- and big guy is as fucking cheesy as they come- but damn did it sound incredibly sexy coming off of her lips. _Wait. I thought she said she didn’t see me. Does she know what I look like? Did she see my scars?_

“ Sandor--?”, her sweet, hesitant, voice brakes him out of his hazy thoughts, “ Are you okay?”

“ Yeah--. I-...I thought you said you didn’t see me.”

 

 

At his tremulous tone she scooted her legs up underneath her butt and turned her body towards him. “ I didn’t really. I mean, right before the lights turned off I glanced in your direction, but I was only eye level to your chest. So-- that was pretty much all I saw.”

“ Oh--.”

She wishes she could see him. It’s so frustrating talking with someone when you can’t see their face. It’s almost impossible to discern how the other person is feeling without being able to see their facial expressions. “ What’s wrong?”

“Nothing”, And with that he sharply clears his throat and then blurts, “ A lawyer or a magazine editor.”

She has to admit this man is very perplexing. He seems to jump from hot and then cold in an instant. Not really wanting to drill him on why the sudden temperature change, in hope of preserving the light banter they were just enjoying she chooses to just ignore it and move on as if nothing happened. “ So which of the two are you going with then?”

She can hear him hum out loud and then what sounds like the scratching of a beard...maybe.

“ If I had to wager money on one of the two, I’d have to go with magazine editor.”

She has to say she’s impressed, because he’s spot on, _Darn. He is good_. “ How did you do that?! I mean you don’t even know me, we’ve never even met before!”

“ So now you want to know my secret to success?”

“Yes!”

“ I don’t know. That’s asking a lot. Are you sure you can handle it?”

She groans out loud as she asks, “ Are you going to make me beg?”

“ Maybe. Probably.”

She laughs at that before she schools her voice to the most pitiful pleading as she begs out, “ Plleasse, Oh masterful one, tell me your secrets to success, teach me the way of the ninja oh great one. For I will be your most worthy student.”

 

 

She has him laughing so hard that his side is in stitches, _God. It’s been years since I’ve laughed this hard_. Barely being able to breath, he rumbles out while holding his hands up in defeat, “ Okay. Okay. You win. I’ll tell you.”

At her happy squeal he continues, “ That was bloody pathetic begging by the way.”

“ Oh, shut up and tell me already!”

“ Well, being as I was up on the same floor as you, and I know what businesses are on that level. Let’s just say I don’t think accountants use portfolio cases, and I was in the lawyer’s office, so--.”

She makes such a cute little squeak sound before she hoots out, “ So you did cheat! Your such a cheater!”

That has him chuckling all over again as he goes on to explain, “ It’s not cheating. Like I said before, I observed my surrounds, and in doing so it was pretty much multiple choice, and from there I made an educated guess.”

He hears her huff and then mumble, “ I still think it’s cheating.”

Smirking he shakes his head at her stubbornness as he mummers, “ Your turn.”


	5. Chapter 5

She hums out loud as she thinks, _what have I learned about Sandor? Well, for one he’s observant. He made that painfully clear. He’s quite moody. He also curses a lot. He’s funny, I’ll be it a kind of dark and crude funny, but still funny. He’s definitely built bigger, and is taller than any man I’ve seen recently. I mean I’m tall for a girl and he had to be what....a head...head and a half taller than me. He has a dark, deep, sultry voice. It can be hard and coarse at times, but it still has an odd....warmth...or maybe more of a smoothness...well,either way, whatever it is, I like it._

Her line of thought is cut off by his loud, impatient grunt that makes her jump and yelp out of distracted surprise. “ Did ya bloody fall asleep over there?”

“ I’m thinking--.”

“ Well, think quicker, cause I’m getting fucking bored over here.”

She titters a little at that as she counters, “ I’ll take as long as I need, thank you very much.” He audibly groans out loud at that, but continues to be quiet.

 _Add bossy to the list. So not a suit and tie, everyday business man type._ Her thinking is immediately interrupted again at his painful sounding moan and then a shuffling kind of scratchy sound that’s followed by a crackly sound.

“What are you doing over there?”

“ My damn ass fell asleep, and my bloody back is killing me from sitting on this fucking hard ass ground, so I’m trying to get into a more comfortable position. And on top off that my stomach feels like it’s gonna devour its self.”

 _Oh! He’s hungry. Maybe that’s why he’s been quick to mood swings_ , she thinks as she proclaims, “ I have some snacks in my bag.”

“ I’ll not eat your food. You keep it, you eat it.”

She scrunches her face at him in vexation, before she gets on her hands and knees and starts crawling to where she dropped her bags. As she’s swiping her hand back and forth trying to feel for her handbag, she diminishes him haughtily. “ Hush! I have no problem sharing, and besides it would be incredibly rude to eat in front of you and not share.”

He snorts at that before he grumbles back,“ It’s not like I can see you.”

She deliberately ignores his remark, and continues to grope around the floor in search of her bags. When her hand grazed across the soft, supple leather of her purse, she grabs at it and pulls it up to her chest while pulling back and sitting up on her haunches. Triumphantly, she yells back to Sandor, “ found it!” , to which he just grunts back in response.

She thought she turned back to where he was sitting, but being that the pitch blackness is so disorienting, she didn’t quite turn as much as she needed to, and that is how her hand had ended up landing on top of the thigh of his outstretched leg. And of course the shock of it made her screech and then fall off balance, and that’s how she ended up now sprawled across his lap.

“ Jesus! What the hell are you doing?!” , he barked out just as surprised as her at the sudden contact.

With her cheeks on fire and feeling completely mortified she quickly pushes her chest up off his legs as she wails out, “ I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I thought I was going in the right direction, but...”

She almost screams out loud at the feel of two large, strong hands grabbing her around the waist and then effortlessly picking her up off his lap, rotating her, and then putting her back down on the ground with her back to the wall once again. _Did he really just pick me up that easily?I know he’s big, but god..is he really that strong?,_ she thinks in utter amazement.

“ Fuck girl. How have you not killed yourself by now. Your like a damn new born puppy that flops about.”

With her cheeks aflame, and her embarrassed desire to crawl into a hole and never come out at an all time high, she quietly mumbles, “ I’m not usually this clumsy.”

He gives her a noncommittal grunt that tells her he is not buying her retort at all.

 

 

Fuck. He damn near jumped out of his skin when he felt her hand on his upper, inner thigh. She damn near palmed his cock, before she ended up sprawled across his lap. With her scent invading his nostrils and her soft supple body writhing on top of him, it was too much, he had to get her off of him. So without thinking, he picked her up and at the feel of the glorious curves of her waist, he was done for. So as quickly and as gently as he could, he set her back down next to him.

“ Fuck girl. How have you not killed yourself by now. Your like a damn new born puppy that flops about.”

He can hear that she sounds absolutely mortified as she mumbles that she’s not normally clumsy. He grunts out loud at that as he thinks, _Yeah right girl_.

Feeling out to the side of his leg, he grabs her purse, and hands it over to where he thinks her hands may be as he mutters, “ Here’s your bag.” And to his own instant mortification, his hand presses into her ample breast. He drops her bag like it’s a hot coal and rips his hand back as he quickly apologizes to her, “ I am so fucking sorry! I swear to god! I would never do that on purpose.”

To his utter amazement, she starts giggling out loud, instead of berating him like she has every right to do.

“ I guess we’re even now” ,she amusingly chirps out and he’s floored with relief that she’s not going to hold it against him like he’s some pervert that’s copping a cheap feel. Chuckling at the ridiculousness of it, he reply’s back, “ I guess so.”

 

 

 

She should of felt completely scandalize at the feeling of his hand pressed up against her breast, but for some odd reason she felt the complete opposite. Instead of disgust she felt a quick jolt of desire.

 _That’s probably because you haven’t been with a man properly in well over a year and a half. Yep! That’s it! That’s what I’m going with_ , she thinks as she grabs her purse with both hands while stating, “ Okay, let’s see what goodies I have in here.”

After she finds the zipper, she deftly pulls it down the length of her bag, and then reaches in and feels around. The first thing her hand lands on is the water bottle that she had tossed in there just before she left the office, so she happily pulls it out and then holds it up as she asks Sandor where his hand is.

 _Right here_ , he growls out to her as if she can see it. That makes her giggle at him as she quips back, “ It’s not like I can see it.” And for some reason he makes that uncomfortable pained sounding groan, again. She’s noticed that every time she makes reference to the darkness or the fact that they’re trapped in an elevator, he’s done that.

Even though she knows it’s rude, she lets curiosity get the better of her as she blurts out, “ Why do you do that?”

Feeling a little ashamed at how blunt that sounded, she fidgets before he grumbles almost inaudibly, “ Do what?”

“ Groan every time that I make mention of the dark or that were trapped in an elevator?”

He doesn’t respond or even move for some minutes, before she hears him growl- It almost sounds like a dog growl- while making a ruffling rubbing sound. Like maybe he’s rubbing at his head. He then huffs a big breath before he mumbles almost in a whisper, “ I’m claustrophobic.”

That has her gasping out loud, absolutely appalled with herself. Her hand immediately flies up to cover her mouth as she mentally berates herself, _how had I not put that together on my own. God, I really am an idiot sometimes! Here this man is...is scared...and you just kept bringing up the fact that he is trapped in a small dark space....and worse yet keep thinking he’s moody! Well, yeah, duh...I’d be more than moody if it was me! This man is truly a saint!_

He had every right to snap at her, scream at her to shut up, but instead he just sat there and took it. And somehow even managed to continue being nice to her. That thought alone leaves her filled with such an unexpected warmth. She feels so bad for him right now that she has to fight the urge to reach out and hug him to her.

 _I’m going to make it up to him. I’m going to make him as comfortable as I can. Distract him from this situation as much as possible_ , she thinks as pleads out to him, “ I am so sorry Sandor. I’m-..I-are you-”

He cuts her off with such a sharp, curt, “ Don’t! It’s nothing! Just bloody forget about it! Okay!”, that it causes her to jump as his loud bellow reverberates off the walls.

 _Great, now you’ve really upset him_ , she thinks as she utters a timid, apologetic, “ Okay.”

And now they’re sitting in silence, because honestly, she doesn’t know what to say to him that might be comforting or distracting. And she doesn’t want to upset him even further. She’s worried that whatever comes out of her mouth next will be a blaring reminder of their situation and freak him out even more. _Being as you’ve done such a thoroughly excellent job of that already_ ,she mentally chastens herself again.

 

 

 

 _Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!_ , he thinks as he rubs his hands vigorously up and down his face, trying to figure out how he can fix what he just did. _You just had to go and snap on her, didn’t you, you fucking asshole_ , he thinks as he growls out loud at himself as he shakes his head in frustration.

After what feels like an eternity in hell, he can’t take it. He’s got to break this silence. He knows he’s not a man that’s any good at apologies, being as he rarely ever gives them, but fuck, he doesn’t see any other options.

 _Here goes nothing_ , he thinks as he takes a couple of large breaths as he rubs his palms up and down his thigh as he starts blathering out in a hurried, self conscious rush. “ Look, I didn’t mean to yell at you like that....and...I’m sorry...Its just...fucking hell...I don’t like talking about it...but I like talking to you...I like your voice...It’s calming and nice...and fuck, I don’t know..its just...don’t be mad at me.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter really annoyed me...I rewrote it like four times.....and for some reason it just keeps feeling disjointed. So, I'm saying screw it and posting it anyways, so sorry if it kinda sucks. And thank you all for your lovely comments and continued encouragement. It is greatly appreciated.

He sounded so incredibly vulnerable, and his apology was so incredibly jumbled and sweet, that she couldn’t stop herself this time from reaching out to him and hugging him to her. At first he stiffened, and didn’t return the embrace. But as she started telling him that she wasn’t mad at him, that she just didn’t want to upset him any more than she already had, that she was sorry too, and she liked the sound of his voice as well, did he finally slacken. When his big strong arms finally embraced her back, she was shocked at how incredibly good it felt. To be in-cased in his strength. She felt so safe, so calm, that she didn’t want to ever leave them.

Now that her cheek is pressed up against his, she can feel that he does have a scruffy beard, and that he is very broad and quite firmly muscled. Very firmly muscled, and so warm..and...god does he smell good. With the sudden urge to bury her face in his neck, she thinks, _Okay, pull away now before you do something stupid._ So, with great reluctance, she pulls away from him, and settles herself back beside him.

_This is so strange_ , she thinks as she fans her burning face with her hand, as she takes a couple of deep, calming breaths in an effort to calm the swarm of butterflies that are fluttering in her stomach. She has never in her life had such a strong, physical reaction to a man like this ever before, and weirder yet she hasn’t even seen him. At this point she finally has to admit to herself that she is very intrigued by him... even attracted to him. _How is it even possible that I’m attracted to him without even seeing him, though?That can’t be right. Right?_ , she thinks as she grabs her purse off the ground and places it back on her lap, and reaches inside to find what she has for them to eat in an effort to distract her from her reeling mind.

 

 

_Well that was bloody interesting_ , he thinks as he clears his throat, and then rubs his hand back and forth over the back of his head as he tries to calm his racing heart. He’s fully aware that what started out as an innocent hug quickly turned into something else. It was electric. Like a current flowing through his body, and he doesn’t know what to make of that. At first, he panicked when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her soft, silken cheek pressed against his. Thank god, she is sitting on his right side, on his un-scarred side. _That could of went very badly....I’m not ready for her to know,_ he thinks as he reaches up to his face, feeling for what he knows will surely have her looking at him in disgust.

But fuck, with her warm breath at his ear, her soft, feminine voice cooing into it that she was sorry too, and she liked his voice as well, he couldn’t stop his arms from wrapping around her. God damn did she feel amazing pressed up against him. And her scent. Fuck, it took every bit of his self-control not to bury his face into her hair. And then she was gone, and he felt her absence so bloody acutely that it made him feel fucking desolate.

 

 

At the feel of the corner of a plastic zip lock bag, she firmly grabs it and then quickly pulls it out and sets it on her lap before diving back in to see what else she may find in there. After she’s sure that she’s found all the goodies that she had in there, she sets her purse back down onto the ground beside her.

_Okay. Lets see what are dining options are going to be tonight_ , she thinks as she first lifts the zip lock bag to her ear and shakes it, in hopes to decipher what is inside it. “ Hmm. I think this might be trail mix...and this-”, she says as she puts the bag back down on her lap and picks up a wrapped bar. Given the size and feel of it, she guesses out loud, “ I think is an oatmeal breakfast bar, and this other one I think is a protein bar, but I’m not really sure, so it’ll be a fun mystery meal. So which do you want?”

“ No. Really, you eat it.”

She can’t help but huff out in frustration at his stubbornness, “ No-. I will not. Now stop being impossible and pick one.” She hears him fidget at her admonishment and then he sheepishly grumbles back, “ Fine. But you pick first and I’ll take whatever is left.”

She sighs out loudly to that before she turns her attention back to the items in her lap. To tell you the truth, she isn’t even really that hungry because she had eaten a sandwich just before she left the office. And knowing that he is hungry, she decides to go for what she thinks is the oatmeal bar. With her choice now made, she grabs the zip lock bag and bar in one hand as she reaches out and places her hand on his arm.

“ Here. Give me your hand.”

She deftly feels his hand land on hers, and she’s amazed at how warm and rugged it feels compared to her own. _Man’s hands_ , she thinks as she reaches over with her other hand and transfers the items into his waiting hand. After the food is placed in his hand he quickly growls back to her, “ This is too much. Here, take the trail mix back.” She quickly pulls her hands away from his so he couldn’t give the bag back to her as she thinks, _well if you’re going to be so dang stubborn than so am I._ “ No. Besides, I’m not even hungry.”

“ Bullshit.”

“ It is not baloney! It’s true. I had a sandwich just before I got on to the elevator.”

“ And if you get hungry later?” , he grumbled out clearly annoyed.

She can’t help but to gape at him as she sits up and holds her oatmeal bar up in the air as if he can see it as she adamantly responds back, “ That’s why I have this.... in case I do get hungry.”

They stay there in a silent standoff for a couple of moments before he finally relents with a murmured, _fine have it your way_. To that, she sharply nods her head as she settles back against the wall, feeling quite triumphant, and with a victorious smirk plastered across her face she hums out a boastful, _Humph_.

Wanting to ensure her victory, she tunes her ears to the noises he is making, to make sure he actually does eat the food. Thinking that he might of just taken it to appease her, she listens for the sound of a plastic bag being opened, but that isn’t what she hears. No. what she hears instead is a rubbing sound...like he’s scooting his bum against the floor, and then the distinct sound of clothing being removed.

_Oh gods! Is he taking off his clothes?!_ , she thinks panicked as she squeaks out, “ Um--. What are you doing?”

“ Taking my shirt off.”

_Oh god! Oh god! Ah no. There is no way I can just calmly sit here next to this big, muscled, bare chested man. What is he thinking!?_ , she thinks absolutely flustered as she stutters out, “ Uh-...Um...Ah- why?”

“ Because it’s bloody fucking stifling in here.”

She did notice that it’s been getting increasingly warmer in here, but still..., “ Yeah, but-”

 

 

He can clearly hear the panic in her voice and he’s honestly perplexed by her reaction, “ Relax. It’s just my bloody sweater I’m taking off.” At her squeaked out little, _Oh_! , He can’t help but laugh at her. Through his chuckling, he sputters, “ Bloody hell, what’d ya think, I was stripping down to my bare ass over here?”

 

 

At his continued laughing and the thought of him sitting nude next to her, she can’t stop the burning flush that travels up from her chest all the way to her forehead. _Why does my brain always go to the most ridiculous thoughts you can come up with. I should really see a head doctor about that._ , she thinks as she mummers out a no she didn’t, even though she knows that she is lying, and she knows without a doubt that she is the absolute worst liar on the planet, so he will most definitely be able to tell that she is not telling the truth. So, in an effort to stop her mouth from blurting out some other stupid thing her brain decides to come up with, she vigorously opens her oatmeal bar, even though she’s not hungry, and shoves half of it in her mouth.

After sitting in awkward silence for a minute or two, she hears him clear his throat before he asks, “ So are you ever going to get around to guessing at what I do for a living?”

Relieved for the change in subject she eagerly responds back, “ Oh. Right. Yes, my turn.”

 

_Think Sansa, think. Okay...he’s big, very, very strong, has a deep rugged voice....,_ and once again, completely without her permission, her brain comes up with the movie “ Magic Mike”. Images of a big strong man, seductively dancing on stage in front of her while ripping his clothes off barrage her brain, and this time she really does squeal out loud.

That sound she just made has Sandor quickly, and worriedly barking out, “ What’s wrong?”

Not knowing what to say to her little outburst she fervently bellows out the first thing that pops in her mind, “ Bit my tongue! Yep...that’s it! Ow!” And right now she’s mentally thanking every god available for not yelping out something completely inappropriate, because that was actually a pretty good excuse. Or at least she thought so, but at his befuddled, _Riightt,_ she’s beginning to think she may not of pulled it off as suavely as she thought she did.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a bit to update....outta town again....anyway hope you enjoy, and again thank you for all the lovely and encouraging comments.

_What the hell is going on with this girl_ , he thinks as he responds to her answer with a drawn out right , that clearly conveys that he’s not buying it. _I mean fuck. First, she’s hugging me all sweet like, then she’s thinking that I’m stripping bare ass naked, and now she’s squealing out all in a panic at the thought of what I do for a job. She’s bloody fucking confusing!_

His mental grumbling is abruptly cut off by her spouted out, “ Cop! A cop.”

“What-?”

“ Are you a police officer?”, she hastily babbles out.

 _How the hell did she come up with that_ , he thinks as he simply states, “ No.”

At her deflated little, _Oh_ , he has to ask, “ How the hell did you come up with a cop?” Honestly, that thought almost has him laughing. I mean really...me...the big, rude, ugly, scary asshole, working as a public servant...yeah that’s definitely fucking laughable.

“ I don’t know-. It’s just that you seem to pick up on things around you a little more thoroughly than the average person, and you seem to be very physically fit...so-.”

That’s definitely true, but those wouldn’t be attributes he’d give to a cop. Fuck, as far as he’s concerned, he thinks cops are some of the laziest, most useless, bastards. Give them a call while your house is being broken into and see how long it takes the pricks to show up, that is , if they manage to get the address right. And working with them is even worse. Almost all the cops he’s had to work with are ego maniacs stuck on a power trip. I mean, sure there’s a few good ones here and there, but for the most part, with his experience with them, they’re all assholes. “ Well, I’m not a cop so guess again.”

“ A construction worker-?”, she states in a hesitant tone, almost like she’s afraid that might offend him. Well, at least that suggestion lines up with his general attitude and gruff demeanor, “ No.”

At her whiny little, _I don’t knoww_ , he chuckles out, “ Oh come on. You can do better than that. Use those masterful ninja skills I bestrode upon you.”

That has her giggling as she sputters in another cute whine,“ But that’s not fair-. You had so much more to go on with me....I didn’t even get to see you. All I know is that you’re wearing a black shirt, you have boots on, and you’re really tall. So how am I supposed to guess anything from that?” Grinning like an idiot he acquiesces over his own chuckle, “ Fine. I’ll let you ask three questions, but they can’t be about my job, just questions to get a feel for me, and I’ll answer.”

At her clapping, happy , cute Yay! He groans and shakes his head at her excited girlishness.

 _Yes! Oh, this is going to be fun_ , she thinks as she grabs a lock of her hair, twirls it in her finger as she Hums out loud,“ Ookayy. Three questions-” After a minute or two of thinking about it, she realized that this is going to be a lot harder than she thought. Not because she couldn’t come up with questions, it’s because she’s come up with about a million to ask, and trying to narrow them down to three is really hard. At his impatient grumble she stutters out, “ Okay. Okay. Hmm-....what do you like to do for fun?”

“ Workout at the gym, go to the bar and have a beer, play some pool every now and then.”

 _That sounds fun and casual. I wonder if he goes to the bar alone or with someone_ , and that thought instigated a question to pop out of her mouth that she otherwise would not of asked, “ Are you seeing anyone?” She knows she should maybe feel a little more scandalized than she does about asking a complete stranger about his dating life...but now that the question is out there she finds she’s intently curious to hear his answer.

“ No.”

For some reason she feels a great deal of relief at his answer, _how strange_.

“ How about you?”

“ What-?”, she asks back, distracted by her own musing. She hears him clear his throat and shift a bit before he quietly mutters, “ Seeing anyone?”

“ Oh-, ah..No. No-, I’m not.”, She stutters as she feels a flush blooming on her cheeks, _why do I feel so shy all the sudden? I mean it’s not like he asked me out or anything...besides I asked him first. It’s only natural that he would ask me back. Right._

 

 

Bloody hell, he never expected their conversation to take a turn in this direction, and he sure as hell didn’t expect it to be initiated by her. But now that it’s out there, he’ll be damned if he wasn’t going to find out if she was single or not. “ How about you?”

She sounded distant and distracted when she asks back, what- , and that makes him think that he read the situation wrong, like maybe he shouldn’t of asked her that back. _She’ll probably end up taking one look at you, scream, and then run away, so fuck it, what have you got to lose_ , he thinks as he clears his throat as he scratches at the back of his head and then mutters, “ Seeing anyone?”

At her stuttered response, he finds himself pleased, but also puzzled. She sounded so adorably shy, but what really confused him was how she said , no I’m not. In a weird way it kind of came across like an invitation, or something. Not fucking sure what the hell to do with that, he figures it’s best just to continue on, “ Alright, one question left.”

She’s still a moment before she asks in a quieted, cautious inflection,“ How old are you?”

“ 34. And you?”

“26.”

“ A wee pup, you are.”

 

 

She gasps out loud at his remark, and then starts giggling as she retorts back, “ Oh. That’s rich, coming from an old man like you. What are you going to do next, shake your fist at me while yelling at me to get off your lawn.”

She can hear that he’s trying hard to hold back a laugh as he growls out, “ Watch it smart ass, or this old man might bend you over my knee and teach you what happens to young-ins that disrespect their elders.”

At this point, she’s wholeheartedly laughing out loud as she sputters out in between breaths, “ Oh-, I’d like to see you try-.”

At his deep rumbled, _don’t tempt me girl_ , she stops laughing, because the tone of his voice sounded so incredibly heady, lusty, that it shot straight to her core. _Tempt, indeed_ , she thinks as she runs her hand through her hair, suddenly feeling overheated. _Stop it. That’s just your stupid brain imagining things again. Now get a hold of yourself before you do something you’ll really regret!_ , she chastens herself as she ungracefully scoots away from the back wall and tucks her legs up underneath her butt in hopes that the little cushion of her calves might stave off the numbness that has started there.

Once settled, she removes her suit jacket, and then un-tucks her blouse from her skirt as she unbuttons the top three buttons. Feeling slightly more composed, she reaches out to her purse and rummages around in it, until she finds what she’s looking for. With a hair clip in hand, she pulls her hair up into a sloppy bun and then clips it to the top of her head.

“ What are you up to over there?”

“ Oh-, just getting more comfortable is all ” , and for some reason her answer sounded way too breathless, and sultry to her own ears. At first, she wasn’t sure if he noticed, but if by the sound and tone of his drawn out, _Hmm_ , she is definitely sure that he did pick up on it. Feeling completely scandalized by her unconscious forwardness, she hastily reaches out for the water bottle by her purse, and takes a sip.

“ Are you drinking something?”

“ Yes, would like some?”, she asks hurriedly.

“ Only if you don’t mind.”

“ Of course I don’t”, she reply’s back as she reaches out for him and passes the bottle to him. She hears him hum appreciatively as he takes a swig before he rasps, “ Thanks for sharing Red.”

“ Your welcome”, she murmurs back through a smile. But that smile quickly fades when his stomach starts to grumble very loudly. That sound has her sighing out loud as she entreats him to please, please eat the food that she gave him. With a resigned grumble from him, she finally hears him open the bag of trail mix and start eating it.

Since he’s preoccupied with eating the food she gave him, finally, she takes this time to try and figure out what he may do for a living, without his impatient grunts that interrupt her train of thought. And, she’s got nothing. So, with a deflated sigh, she mumbles out, “ Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m very good at this. I mean, even though I got to ask you three questions, I still don’t have a clue as to what you may do for a living.”

“ Personal bodyguard.”

 _Well, that’s a random remark,_ she thinks as she blurts, “ What?”

“ My job is a personal bodyguard.”

“Oh!”, _that makes sense, why didn’t I think of that_ , “ Like the kind that carry guns and looks like secret service guys?”

“ Yep. Just like that.”

 _So he does have to wear a suit_ , she thinks a little too giddily as she excitedly asks, “ So you have to wear a nice suit every day.” Now she really badly needs to see him dressed up.

 

 

“ Only when I’m on an assignment, so, no. Not every day”, he boasts proudly. It’s one of the few things that he’s really proud of in his life. Owning his own firm and actually having it succeed. That he, himself, built a respected reputation that is now sought after in the security industry. Hells, at this point in his career, he can probably step away from the personal body guard part and transition right into consultation and still maintain the same level of contracts. Honestly, it’s something he’s been seriously considering for the past few months. Because of what he does, is also probably why he feels so helplessly discombobulated over this girl. To be a great guard, you have to be able to see everything. Especially, people. Be able to read their body language to gauge their intent. And not being able to see her, to read her, has really thrown him off balance.

“ How- cool-”, she chimes out and he can hear the wonder in her voice.

“ Pays the bills.”

“ Have you ever guarded anyone famous?!”, she spouts out excitedly.

“ Yes, but not the kind you’re thinking of.”

“ How do you mean?”

He shrugs his shoulder and plainly states, “ Me and my detail of men usually guard million- billion dollar businessmen, and politicians. You know, the kind of people that have a reason to be bloody worried about being plucked off.”

“Oh-.Hmm.”

 

They laps into another moment of silence as she tries to imagine him in a suit. She can picture his broad shoulders and wide chest that tapers down to narrow hips emphasized by a beautifully tailored light charcoal wool suit jacket that hugs his body in all the right places. Followed by light charcoal wool slacks that are snug at the buttock and thighs, effectively accentuating how round, thick, and strong the muscles there are, but flare out slightly at the calf, ending with bold tailored cuffs. To contrast the color of his suit she can see him wearing a pitch black fitted button up shirt with a charcoal tie to pull it all together. For some reason she imagines that those colors would bring out the color in his eyes and compliment his hair color.

“ What color are your eyes and hair?”

She hears him shuffle and chuckle slightly before he responds, “ Ya know, for a game of twenty questions, it sure does feel like I’m the only one getting asked all the questions and your the only one getting all the bloody answers.”

She hears the teasing inflection in his voice and that causes her to giggle lightly as well as she relents with a demand first, “ Fine you can ask me anything you want, BUT only after you answer my question first.”

“ Gray eyes, black hair.”

She makes a loud triumphant Humph to that as she happily exclaims, “ Darn, I’m good at what I do!”

“ What the hell is that suppose to mean?”, he rasps back completely confused.

She blushes slightly as she fidgets before she stumbles out, “ Oh...it’s just...I work in the fashion..so-...I was trying to...well, figure out what suit....would...would look best on you...how you would look in it and...”, she trails off embarrassed as she’s realizes he’s gone eerily still.

For a couple of moments there is nothing but complete, heavy, silence, and somehow she can tell that the energy in the space around them has completely changed. And not for the better. It’s as if an icy chill has descended upon their compartment, and that causes a shiver to run down her spine. She’s on the precipice of feeling afraid. She’s not sure if it’s for herself or for him, but it is definitely there.

She notices that he sounds very reserved, guarded, and his tone is very sharp as he growls out, “ Don’t bother getting your fucking hopes up, whatever I wear doesn’t make a fucking damn bit of difference in how I look.”

“ What-...I--...what do you mean by that”, she immediately asks back, completely bewildered by his cryptic response, and the honest bitterness she can hear in his voice.

 

 

He can hear the honest, innocent concern in her voice as she asks what he meant by that last remark, and dammit to hell he wishes he kept his temper in check and big fucking mouth shut. He brings his hand up to his face, letting his fingers trail down the length of the large scar there as he mentally wrestles with the idea of telling her the truth or not.

It starts at the top of his head, above his right ear, from the scalp down across his ear and then cheek all the way down to the bottom of his jaw. It’s about a 2 1/2 to 3 inch wide gouge of scar tissue that is still red and angry, even after 25 years. And if that isn’t hideous enough, he lost the top half of his ear and a good chunk of his eyebrow was well.

Trying to make up his mind on telling her or not he finally comes to a conclusion, _fuck it! She’s gonna see me in the end anyway, so I might as well fucking prepare her for my ugly ass face right now. She’s given you comfort and kindness, the least you can do is give her the truth in return_.

“ Sandor--?”

“ What I meant is that I have a big scar on my face and no amount of prettying me up will make it go away.”

“ A scar? What-. I don’t understand.”

 _Of course she doesn’t. Pretty little thing like her_ , he thinks as he physically cringes at what he’s about to do next, “ Give me your hand.” He doesn’t let anybody touch him there, and to be honest, he doesn’t know why he’s going this route with her, all he knows is it feel like the right thing to do so she’ll understand what he’s talking about. What she’ll see when this is all over.

“ What-?! Why?”

“ Just--... just trust me. I won’t hurt you. I promise.”

She gives out a breathy little okay before he feels her tentatively place her hand on his forearm. He knows from their previous hand offs that she won’t be able to reach his right side properly so he quietly ask for her other hand instead. She hesitates only a moment before he hears her turn toward him as she places her other hand on his arm. Taking her hand in his, he guides it up to his face, but stops just before she’s touching it. He takes a couple of deep breaths, in an effort to steel himself for what he knows is going to come next. That’s when she urges him on in a soft, sweet, gentle tone, “ Hey-. It’s okay-. It’ll be alright.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay.....well, here goes nothing....the reveal. I don't know why, but I feel like I'm gonna get whipped for this or something.....Here's to hoping it works:)

She tried to sound as reassuring as she could when she told him that it’ll be okay, even though she, herself feels quite nervous. She can sense that whatever he’s about to do, it’s big for him. No, not big, huge. Like he’s showing her something that he would not show to anyone else. She’s not sure if she should feel honored, but she does, and that in itself is creating a confusing eager....apprehension to build up in her chest.

She hears as he takes a big breath and holds it as he rests her hand on the top of his head. She’s slightly puzzled, because all her fingers can feel is hair, that is until he slowly starts to drag her fingers lower, and that’s when she feels it. As soon as her fingertips touch his scar he drops his hand from hers, and this makes her halt her movements.

“ It keeps going”, he whispers to her in a low murmur.

“ Does it hurt?” , she asks just as quietly as she begins to slowly follow the path of his scar, taking his response as a sign that it is okay for her to continue on.

“ No.”, he whispers back.

Under her finger tips she can feel the glossy, ridges of the scar tissue. She can feel that his hair doesn’t grow there. As her fingers skim the tip of his ear, she can feel that the shape is off. So she traces the outline of it, realizing that the top half of it is missing. Instead of the ear arching up and around, it just curves to a straight smooth line that ends back at his face. Sliding her fingertips along his cheek, she can also feel the scruff of a beard, then the glossy bareness of his scar and then scruff of a beard again.

“ Oh Sandor-, what happened to you?” , she mutters out on a tremulous breath, and a heavy heart as her finger tips finish at his jawline. She doesn’t know why, but she just does not want to stop touching him, so instead she slides her fingers to rest under his earlobe as she rest her palm on his cheek and begins to softly rub her thumb back and forth across his cheek.

Her heart feels like it will shatter into a thousand pieces when she feels him gently place his hand on top of hers as he turn his face into her touch before he quietly mutters, “ It’s not a pretty story.”

At his admittance that something terrible had happened to him, the thought of him being so wounded by it, she feels a lump grow in her throat as tears build in the corner of her eyes. There is such a quieted sadness in him, that she can both hear in his voice and feel in his touch, that it stimulates such an overwhelming urge in her to comfort him. To take all his pain away. As a tear slips free from her eye, she slides her hand to the nape of his neck, and gently pulls.

 

 

 

 

He releases the breath he had been holding as she began to feel across his cheek. The knot in his stomach is finally starting to unravel at her continued exploration of his face. He’s so overwhelmed that she hasn’t screamed in horror, or pulled her hand away in disgust, that he feels almost light headed. Despite the shallowness of his breathing, his heart feels as if it’s about to pound out of his chest, and all he feels is a frenzied whirl of emotions. It’s like her subtle touch, her acceptance, is putting him back together again, but then shattering him into a million different little pieces.

When he feels her hand slide up to his cheek, and then her thumb starts to softly pet at it, he finally allows himself a small sliver of hope that maybe this time it’ll be different for him. That she’s different. That she can look at him with something other than disgust or fear.

There is such a tenderness in her tone as she asked what had happened to him, that he knew he was done for. It’s not a story he’s ever told to anyone, but for her....he’ll tell her anything she wants to know about him, in hopes that it’ll help bind her to him. He brings his own hand up to cover hers as he turns his face fully into her touch, needing her to stay there, if he is truly going to have to relive the events that changed his life forever. “ It’s not a pretty story” , he warns her, giving her a chance to back out of hearing his miserable tale.

She stills the sweeping motion of her thumb at his statement, before he feels her hand slide to the back of his neck, and then she is gently pulling him toward her. He hesitates for an instant before he relents and allows her to dictate his movements. And as he goes where she leads, he is overwhelmed yet again as she rests his face onto her shoulder, where the curve of her neck starts, and then she tenderly wraps her arms around head, holding him to her in a comforting embrace. With a deep trembling breath, he wraps his own arms around her waist, and pulls her to him as he buries his face deeper into her neck. They stay like this for some time before he feels her slacken one of her arms that holds him to her, as she slides that hand to rest softly at the back of his head.

As she starts to slowly slide her hand back and forth through his hair, fingernails soothingly scratch at his scalp, she heedfully states, “ If you don’t want to talk about it, I understand, and you don’t have to. But sometimes it’s better to talk about the things that hurt us...better than keeping them inside...hidden away....where no one can help.”

At her passionate entreatment, he tightens his hold around her waist and tilts his face out of her neck enough to be able to speak, and in a quieted murmurer he starts to relive that terrible night to her, “ I was 9, and the whole family was packed up in the car, well, everyone except my brother Gregor. We were going on a camping trip in the mountains. Due to my father being held up at work, we ended up leaving a lot later than my father wanted to. That put him in a real shit mood, so he was driving a lot more erratic and faster than he normally would. My mother started yelling at him, and then they started arguing over it....not really paying attention to the road...and then...then a huge buck jumped out into the road...and.”

He has to squeeze his eyes shut tight, and take a couple of deep breaths in order to get the next part out. The sound of breaking glass, and crushing metal...screams of terror...still fresh in his ears. It’s as if time had not passed, not dampened the memory one iota...still as vivid today as it was as it happened. At his hesitation to continue, Sansa brings her other hand to his back, and starts rubbing it reassuringly as she murmurers that it’s okay, and she right here, that she has him, that he’s safe.

Taking a deep, trembling breath, he continues, “ My father slammed on the breaks, but the car didn’t slow at all...so he swerved...and then the car was rolling down the ravine on the side of the road. End over end, over end, over end....it just wouldn’t stop...until it did. Then there was nothing but unbearable pain and darkness..darkness and...and..silence.”

He feels her warm, wet tears patter against his cheek as she presses her face against his, and it breaks his heart to think she would be so affected by his story. He is perplexed at the fact, that her compassion, tenderness is something he is candidly embracing. He never pursues peoples pity. Matter of fact, he out right rejects it. But from her...this...it feels good in a way he’s never experienced before. He finds himself craving more of it. He feels her heave a trembling breath as she tightens her hold on him before she quietly ask, “ Did they...your family, I mean...did they survive?”

“ No. My mother and sister both died that night, and my father may as well of.”

 

 

“ Sandor, I’m so sorry....I’m so sorry you had to go through that.I-..”, she quietly trails off, at a loss for words. Hearing the horror of what he had gone through at such a young age, and then losing your mother and sister on top of it, she just couldn’t imagine it. She knows there is nothing she can say to alleviate that pain, that loss...anything one might say would just end up sounding patronizing, false. An empty gesture, empty words. Thinking back on the self deprecating remarks he made about himself, how he thought himself ugly for the scars he bares from a tragic accident, has her on the verge of bursting out in sobs of sorrow for him. Knowing now that he thinks she would reject him for them, has her lifting her cheek from his and placing a soft kiss on the scar of his cheek. She desperately hopes that is enough to reassure him....to show him that she isn’t bothered by his scars. She hears him take in a sharp breath as her lips linger on his skin, before she pull away only a hair as she reverently tells him, “ That was very brave of you to show me your scars, and for telling me your story. Thank you Sandor. Thank you for trusting me.”


End file.
